Prospect Park

Mushroom Chicken of the Woods in the city of skyscrapers.

Posted on September 8, 2021September 8, 2021 by Javier

Wednesday, September 8, 2021. New York City – On Wednesday, September 1, 2021, I saw this gorgeous orange and creamy/yellow mushroom in Prospect Park, in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City.

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NEVER eat mushrooms that you do not know. Some mushrooms are poisonous and ingesting them will lead you to the hospital or to death.

I did not know anything about this mushroom. I found on the Internet that it is a sulphur shelf mushroom, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus. It is an edible mushroom.

Laetiporus

“Laetiporus is a genus of edible mushrooms found throughout much of the world. Some species, especially Laetiporus sulphureus, are commonly known as sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus because it is often described as tasting like and having a texture similar to that of chicken meat. The name “chicken of the woods” is not to be confused with another edible polypore, Maitake (Grifola frondosa) known as “hen of the woods”, or with Lyophyllum decastes, known as the “fried chicken mushroom”. The name Laetiporus means “with bright pores”.

Individual “shelves” range from 5 to 25 cm (2 to 10 inches) across. These shelves are made up of many tiny tubular filaments (hyphae). The mushroom grows in large brackets – some have been found that weigh over 45 kg (100 pounds). It is most commonly found on wounds of trees, mostly oak, though it is also frequently found on eucalyptus, yew, sweet chestnut, and willow, as well as conifers in some species. Laetiporus species are parasitic and produce brown rot in the host on which they grow.

Young fruiting bodies are characterized by a moist, rubbery, sulphur-yellow to orange body sometimes with bright orange tips. Older brackets become pale and brittle almost chalk-like, mildly pungent, and are often dotted with beetle or slug/woodlouse holes. Similar species include Laetiporus gilbertsonii (fluorescent pink, more amorphous) and L. coniferica (common in the western United States, especially on red fir trees). Edibility traits for the different species have not been well documented, although all are generally considered edible with caution.

The sulphur shelf mushroom sometimes comes back year after year when the weather suits its sporulation preferences. From late spring to early autumn, the sulphur shelf thrives, making it a boon to mushroom hunters and a bane to those concerned about the health of their trees. This fungus causes a brown cubical rot and embrittlement which in later stages ends in the collapse of the host tree, as it can no longer flex and bend in the wind.

The mushroom can be prepared in most ways that one can prepare chicken meat. It can also be used as a substitute for chicken in a vegetarian diet. Additionally, it can be frozen for long periods of time and retain its edibility. In certain parts of Germany and North America, it is considered a delicacy.

In some cases eating the mushroom “causes mild reactions … for example, “swollen lips” or in rare cases “nausea, vomiting, dizziness and disorientation” to those who are sensitive. This is believed to be due to a number of factors that include allergies to the mushroom’s protein or toxins which are only somewhat stable at high temperatures. As such, many field guides request that those who eat Laetiporus exercise caution by only eating fresh, young brackets and begin with small quantities to see how well it sits in their stomach.

Laetiporus sulphureus has a potent ability to inhibit staph bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), as well as moderate ability to inhibit the growth of Bacillus subtilis.”_Wikipedia.org

The city of skyscrapers

New York City is known as the city of skyscrapers, but NYC does not have the most skyscrapers.

List of cities by number of completed skyscrapers taller than 150 m (492 ft). This is a list which ranks cities that have at least 10 completed skyscrapers as of August 2021 that are taller than 150 m (492 ft).

1 – Hong Kong, China: 482 skyscrapers.
2 – Shenzhen, China: 297 skyscrapers.
3 – New York City, United States of America: 290 skyscrapers.
4 – Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 215 skyscrapers.
5 – Shanghai, China: 166 skyscrapers.
Click here for more.

Wednesday, September 1, 2021. Prospect Park, Brooklyn; New York City – Sulphur shelf mushroom, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus. Photo by Javier Soriano/www.JavierSoriano.com

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Mute Swans have beautiful babies in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Posted on June 13, 2021June 13, 2021 by Javier

Sunday, June 13, 2021. New York City – In April and May 2021, I saw mute swans incubating their eggs in the beautiful Prospect Park, in the borough of Brooklyn; New York City.

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The first time I noticed them was on Friday, April 2, 2021. The second time I filmed one of the swans incubating the eggs was on Thursday, April 8, 2021. The third time I filmed a swan in the nest was on Friday, April 30, 2021. The four time I filmed the swan incubating the eggs was on Thursday, May 6, 2021. The fifth time I filmed the mother swan was on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. More than two months have passed and they already have babies, 6 beautiful cygnets.

VIDEO: Mother swan and her six baby cygnets.

A male swan is called a Cob. The female is called a Pen and the young are called cygnets (pronounced ‘sig-nets’) until they are a year old. Cygnets are not ducklings. Swans are not ducks, they are much bigger than most ducks, and cygnets are a bit larger than ducklings.

According to the information I found online, female and male swans take turns incubating the eggs, which hatch after 35-45 days.

On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, I also saw a beautiful double-crested cormorant and turtles sharing an “island”, well, it is not an island, it is a rock in the lake of Prospect Park. Several turtles and the double-crested cormorant sharing a small rock. Gorgeous!

I love swans, Canada geese, raccoons, squirrels, ducks, northern cardinals (also known colloquially as the redbird, common cardinal, red cardinal, or just cardinal), and other animals in Prospect Park and other public parks in New York City. Animals should be free in their natural habitats and not in prisons (zoos, aquariums, circuses, etc.).

Unfortunately, some people do not like animals. Sometimes I see people harassing animals in parks. Sometimes it is the government that kills animals in parks and other places.

Canada geese used to have babies (goslings) in Prospect Park, in the borough of Brooklyn. The last time Canada geese had goslings in Prospect Park was in 2011. Watch the video below.

Baby Canada geese (goslings) in Prospect Park. Brooklyn, NYC.

On July 8, 2010, nearly 400 Canada geese and goslings in Prospect Park were captured, gassed and thrown into trash bags.

For several years, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the NYC government killed thousands of Canada geese. They killed geese in Prospect Park, Central Park, Inwood Hill Park, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and other places.

A petition (that is closed now) by GooseWatch NYC says, “Since 2009, thousands of New York City’s Canada geese have been killed each summer by USDA Wildlife Services in the name of air safety. The killing is inhumane and lacks scientific merit.”

GooseWatch NYC became inactive at the end of 2016, but for several years, GooseWatch NYC, Friends of Animals and other organizations had rallies to protect Canada Geese, turkeys, deer, coyotes, swans and carriage horses.

7/8/2011. Mary Beth Purdy- Artz singing “This Land is Your Land” with the lyrics adapted to the Canada Geese issue.

On July 8, 2011 was the commemoration of the 1 year anniversary of the slaughter of the Prospect Park Canada Geese.
Mary Beth Purdy- Artz sang “This Land is Your Land” with the lyrics adapted to the Canada Geese issue.

On Wednesday, June 26, 2013, GooseWatch NYC and In Defense of Animals had a press conference and rally at Merchant’s Gate (Columbus Circle) Central Park to speak out against the killing of Canada geese in New York City.

Speakers included David Karopkin, Founder and Director of GooseWatch NYC; Ken Paskar, President of Friends of La Guardia Airport and former lead safety representative for the FAA Safety Team; Anja Heister, M.S. Biologist and Director of the Wild and Free-Habitats Campaign; Brian Shapiro, NY State Director of The Humane Society of the United States; Edita Birnkrant, NY Director of Friends of Animals; Suzanne Soehner, resident of the Inwood Hill Park community and Mary Beth Purdy Artz, NYC Wildlife Advocate.

Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Brooklyn, New York City – Mother swan with her 6 babies (cygnets) in Prospect Park. Photo by Javier Soriano/www.LoveIsAmor.com

In 2018, “a family of mute swans in upstate Oneida was killed by U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife staff after a kayaker complained to state DEC about an “aggressive” male swan. The two adults were shot and the four cygnets were captured and intentionally drowned. In Brooklyn, the seven swans that make their home in Prospect Park Lake have been missing since June 2, according to signs posted this week.

Cymbrowitz and Avella sponsored legislation to protect New York’s mute swans from extermination, with input from Friends of Animals, which was signed into law in 2016. The law established a two-year moratorium on the DEC’s controversial mute swan management plan—which was basically a government sanctioned death sentence. The law also requires DEC to demonstrate that the swans have caused actual damage to the environment or to other species, including humans.”

Swans

“Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans’ closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six living and many extinct species of swan; in addition, there is a species known as the coscoroba swan which is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, although “divorce” sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

Swans are the largest extant members of the waterfowl family Anatidae, and are among the largest flying birds. The largest living species, including the mute swan, trumpeter swan, and whooper swan, can reach a length of over 1.5 m (59 in) and weigh over 15 kg (33 lb). Their wingspans can be over 3.1 m (10 ft). Compared to the closely related geese, they are much larger and have proportionally larger feet and necks. Adults also have a patch of unfeathered skin between the eyes and bill. The sexes are alike in plumage, but males are generally bigger and heavier than females.^[9] The biggest species of swan ever was Cygnus falconeri, a flightless giant swan known from fossils found on the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Sicily.

The Northern Hemisphere species of swan have pure white plumage, but the Southern Hemisphere species are mixed black and white. The Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is completely black except for the white flight feathers on its wings; the chicks of black swans are light grey. The South American black-necked swan has a white body with a black neck.

Swans’ legs are normally a dark blackish grey colour, except for the South American black-necked swan, which has pink legs. Bill colour varies: the four subarctic species have black bills with varying amounts of yellow, and all the others are patterned red and black. Although birds do not have teeth, swans, like other Anatidae, have beaks with serrated edges that look like small jagged ‘teeth’ as part of their beaks used for catching and eating aquatic plants and algae, but also molluscs, small fish, frogs, and worms. In the mute swan and black-necked swan, both sexes have a fleshy lump at the base of their bills on the upper mandible, known as knob, which is larger in males, and is condition dependent, changing seasonally.”_Wikipedia.org

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Double-crested cormorant in Prospect Park, Brooklyn; New York City.

Posted on June 4, 2021June 8, 2021 by Javier

Friday, June 4, 2021. New York City – On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, I saw this double-crested cormorant and some turtles in Prospect Park, one of the most beautiful parks in Brooklyn, New York City.

The double-crested cormorant and some turtles were on a small rock in the lake in the park.

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VIDEO: Double-crested cormorant, turtles, swan babies, duck babies, and other friends in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NYC.

Double-crested cormorant

“The double-crested cormorant is all over the place—the lake in Prospect Park, the Central Park Reservoir, and sometimes the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. This large black waterbird is one of the most common birds in the New York City area, and it’s often seen near bodies of water—both large and small, freshwater and saltwater—perching on rocks and small trees spreading its wings out to dry. An excellent fisherman, the double-crested cormorant’s diet consists almost entirely of fish.”_Brooklyn Botanic Garden

“The double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. Its habitat is near rivers and lakes as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is an all-black bird which gains a small double crest of black and white feathers in breeding season. It has a bare patch of orange-yellow facial skin. Five subspecies are recognized. It mainly eats fish and hunts by swimming and diving. Its feathers, like those of all cormorants, are not waterproof and it must spend time drying them out after spending time in the water. Once threatened by the use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years.

The double-crested cormorant is a large waterbird with a stocky body, long neck, medium-sized tail, webbed feet, and a medium-sized hooked bill. It has a body length of between 70–90 cm (28–35 in) long, with a wingspan of between 114–123 cm (45–48 in). Double-crested cormorants weigh between 1.2–2.5 kg (2.6–5.5 lb). Males and females do not display sexual dimorphism.

This species has dark-colored plumage with bare supra-loreal skin and gular skin that is yellow or orange. An adult in breeding plumage will be mostly black with the back and coverts being a dark grayish towards the center. Nuptial crests, for which the species is named, are either white, black or a mix of the two. These are located just above the eyes with the bare skin on the face of a breeding adult being orange. A non-breeding adult will lack the crests and have more yellowish skin around the face. The bill of the adult is dark-colored. The double-crested cormorant is very similar in appearance to the larger great cormorant, which has a more restricted distribution in North America, mainly on the Canadian maritime provinces; it can, however, be separated by having more yellow on the throat and the bill.

The plumage of juvenile double-crested cormorants is more dark gray or brownish. The underparts of a juvenile are lighter than the back with a pale throat and breast that darkens towards the belly. As a bird ages, its plumage will grow darker. The bill of a juvenile will be mostly orange or yellowish.

The double-crested cormorant’s numbers decreased in the 1960s due to the effects of DDT. Colonies have also been persecuted from time to time in areas where they are thought to compete with human fishing.

Recently the population of double-crested cormorants has increased. Some studies have concluded that the recovery was allowed by the decrease of contaminants, particularly the discontinued use of DDT. The population may have also increased because of aquaculture ponds in its southern wintering grounds. The ponds favor good over-winter survival and growth.”_Wikipedia.org

Prospect Park is an urban park in Brooklyn, New York City. The park is situated between the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, and Windsor Terrace, and is adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum, Grand Army Plaza, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. With an area of 526 acres (213 ha), Prospect Park is the second largest public park in Brooklyn, behind Marine Park.

First proposed in legislation passed in 1859, Prospect Park was laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also helped design Manhattan’s Central Park, following various changes to its design. Prospect Park opened in 1867, though it was not substantially complete until 1873. The park subsequently underwent numerous modifications and expansions to its facilities. Several additions to the park were completed in the 1890s, in the City Beautiful architectural movement. In the early 20th century, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Prospect Park. A period of decline in the late 20th century spurred the creation of the Prospect Park Alliance, which refurbished many parts of the park starting in the late 1980s.

Main attractions of the park include the 90-acre (36 ha) Long Meadow; the Picnic House; Litchfield Villa; Prospect Park Zoo; the Boathouse; Concert Grove; Brooklyn’s only lake, covering 60 acres (24 ha); and the Prospect Park Bandshell that hosts free outdoor concerts in the summertime. The park also has sports facilities, including the Prospect Park Tennis Center, basketball courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, and the New York Pétanque Club in the Parade Ground. There is also a private Society of Friends (Quaker) cemetery on Quaker Hill near the ball fields. In addition, Prospect Park is part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway, a network of green spaces that stretch across western Long Island.

Prospect Park was designated a New York City scenic landmark on November 25, 1975, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 17, 1980. The park is operated by the Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks.”_Wikipedia.org